Rusted Decals on Free No. 5
 

I found a Free No. 5 on Craigslist, and bought it with enthusiastic dreams of restoring it. I'm already stuck. There appears to be rust underneath most of the paint. Even a very light wipe with an oil-soaked soft cloth brings up flakes of paint all over the machine.

Is there anything I can do about the rust? It seems that the surface paint is not really clinging to anything but rust. I was really hoping to bring back the decals, but I don't know how to approach this. I'd like to stabilize the finish and fix the rust before doing anything else.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]457282[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]457283[/ATTACH]First photos are as it came; second are after wiping very gently with 3-in-1 oil. The decal started to come off immediately on the back part. If you can see the photos close up, you'll see that there's cracking all through the finish.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]457284[/ATTACH]The paint on the inside of the wheel arm seems to be a little more stable.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]457285[/ATTACH]The paint on top of the wheel cover piece comes off if I even brush against it. It seems to be mostly rust here.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]457286[/ATTACH]This is after wiping the center decal carefully with 3-in-1. Note the rust circle - I suspect this is what's under all the finish.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]457287[/ATTACH]The machine head from above.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]457288[/ATTACH]The underside is surprisingly clean - this is after a very brief wipe with Liquid Wrench.

Thanks very much for any help you can offer!

That's the shellac that's gone bad, not rust I think. It gets brown and yellow with age. There may be some rust spots, but the alligator look is the shellac cracking. There are ways to make it look better, but it takes a lot of time and elbow grease. I've redone one machine and although it doesn't look 100%, it's much improved. There should be a tutorial or sticky on the top of the Vintage Section on how to French Polish or fix the shellac by Glenn.

Review of the "Stickies" is a great place to start. Stabilizing this machine would not be a "beginner" level project. Not that you cannot do it, just understand that you are starting in the deeper end of the pool as it were...

1. you REALLY should NOT use WD40 on the surface It is too harsh a chemical to use on aged surfaces.
2. Sewing Machine oil is the correct thing to use for cleaning this. (yes, oil cleans, just slowly)
3. Along with the sewing machine oil, use LIGHT pressure.

The process to clean this wonderful machine is not fast but worth the results if enough patience is available

.... Best wording of a sentence award for 2014 already goes to you Steve!